Chapter 125

“Hmm… where could it be…?”

Ambasha carefully surveyed her surroundings.

While others were busily battling the enemies, she, not wanting to be a hindrance, was moving to do what she could.

All she could see around her was dense foliage, but in that moment, she knew.

Somewhere in this place, that person…

The Duke Ocleang was here.

Even though she was merely a Grade 5 Intermediate Warrior and unable to use tracking techniques like the Circle of Magical Power,

she was aware that her opponent wasn’t that swift, and there was a strange feeling leading her to believe Duke Ocleang might be lurking nearby.

Following her intuition, Ambasha diligently scanned the area.

However…

“Hmm… could it be…?”

Contrary to her premonition, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t spot the Duke at all.

She thought he’d be easy to find since, from a glance, he seemed quite large, but

it seemed he was either hiding really well… or perhaps, despite his size, he had already run far away with surprising speed.

As she contemplated whether it was time to give up, she continued down the path.

Then…

“Fuhuhuh…”

“…Huh?”

At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed in their ears.

Startled, Ambasha turned her head toward the sound that resembled a pig being slaughtered.

And the person there was…

“! You…”

“Guhuhuh… seems I’ve stumbled upon an unexpected treasure?”

*

Before her stood a girl, Ambasha.

Although the situation wasn’t the best, upon discovering her, Duke Ocleang’s fatigue was forgotten as his face broke into a bright smile.

The very girl he had longed for was standing there, unguarded.

With her youthful, attractive appearance and soft skin, she looked his way with a surprised expression.

‘It might be a little past its prime, but… still, this is well worth the meal. Fuhuh, indeed… it looks tasty even if it has dulled a bit since the last time I saw it…’

His mind and body still screamed that the situation was dire.

With enemies possibly closing in from all directions, there was little time to concern himself with such trivial details.

However…

The growing influence of his lower body became overwhelmingly powerful.

After all, this was Duke Ocleang, who had even waged war against the Pirate King for the supreme pleasure of possessing Ambasha.

He couldn’t pretend to ignore the target that was passing right before his eyes.

‘Those slender limbs… that smooth skin… and that petite size perfectly fits a graspable chest… truly to my liking. I can only imagine how sweet the sounds from that little one would be…’

Duke Ocleang licked his lips, salivating at the thought.

He then drew the gun and sword from his waist, approaching Ambasha.

At that moment…

“Just to confirm… are you Duke Ocleang?”

“Oh? Do you remember me? Well, I guess so; you must have seen me with your master a few times back then.”

“…No, not really that part, but you are indeed Duke Ocleang, right?”

Unlike her trembling days as a slave, now that little girl spoke casually, which irked him quite a bit.

However, he thought nothing too serious of it.

She was currently puffing up her chest, not realizing her place, but soon enough, she was bound to be crying and whimpering.

“Indeed, I am Duke Ocleang. And from now, you will be my new little master.”

“What?”

Her expression showed disbelief.

Aiming his gun at her, Duke Ocleang stated confidently.

“… What… what are you doing?”

“Ahaha, it might be wise not to think of running. If you do, I may just have to chop off your legs. If you follow along quietly, I can guarantee you won’t get harmed.”

Thus, he threatened the fragile girl with his gun and sword.

In truth, he was too eager to pounce on her rather than issue threats, but considering the circumstances, such actions were too dangerous.

‘First, I need to take this girl to a relatively safe place; if I wait in solitude for some fun, Commander Wallenstein will surely take care of the aftermath.’

After so long away from the Kingdom of Frantz, he truly looked forward to this indulgent time.

As he pondered where to lead the trembling girl before him, suddenly…

“Ah…”

“…Huh?”

For some reason, contrary to his expectations that she would be pleading for her life in terror, Ambasha seemed oddly indifferent.

Shouldn’t she get a clue about the circumstances by now? A flicker of doubt began to creep into his mind.

Then.

“I see… you hadn’t seen me in the last two years, huh? I guess that would make it easy to be confused.”

“…What… do you mean? Confused? What did I get confused about?”

Ocleang frowned at Ambasha’s incomprehensible words.

And towards him, Ambasha began to smile.

“What do you mean by confused… well…”

And then—

Smack!!!

“…Huh?”

In the next moment, an eerie yet chilling sensation washed over him.

The proud Duke Ocleang’s face turned pale as his confidence began to crumble.

Slowly, he turned his gaze, not realizing what was happening.

What greeted his eyes was…

A familiar sight lying on the ground…

To be exact…

His hand that had been holding the gun…

“What… what the… Aaaah?!?”

In disbelief, Ocleang screamed in agony, feeling a searing pain.

Seeing the blood gushing from his wrist plunged him into sheer panic.

And as he looked on…

Ambasha beamed at him, wielding a bloodied sword.

“Sorry… If it were two years ago, it might’ve been different. But now, I’ve changed quite a bit since then…”

“Wha… what…?!”

The next moment, he began to see something in Ambasha’s hand.

It was… the magical power leaking from the sword she wielded…

Though Ocleang was rather ignorant in many regards, he knew well enough what that was.

Concentration.

A power to be harnessed by seasoned warriors.

The fact that this young girl was using it…

Two years ago, she had had nothing—no strength, no ability.

The realization that she had attained this in just two years left Duke Ocleang in shock.

“Wha… how… how could you… It’s only been two years… how could someone like you…”

Mastering concentration typically required at least five years of training.

Unless one was a genius destined for historical recognition, achieving that in just two years should be impossible.

But this little girl before him had—

What he had long desired was right before him, and the Duke was stricken with profound shock…

And an even deeper fear.

The sweet prey he thought Ambasha to be.

However, the truly sweet bait was… actually himself.

– “Shaaa…”

“No, not yet, just a little longer. You just ate earlier, right? So please wait a moment.”

*

Pirates tracking Duke Ocleang.

As they pressed forward, following Ambasha’s presence nearby, they remained vigilant of their surroundings.

“Phew…”

“Are you okay? You look pretty tired…”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, I just pushed myself a bit earlier…”

Franklin, with a look of fatigue, although she had sustained no major injuries, had exerted considerable energy roasting a Grade 10 monster earlier.

The same applied to Magellan and Elkana, who had narrowly avoided death moments ago.

Despite their exhaustion, the fish they had nearly caught right in front of them pushed them to suppress their fatigue and hurry onwards.

Then…

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, something began to appear within the aura detection set up by Auriel…

Stopping momentarily in her tracks, she wore a grim expression.

“What… what’s going on?”

“What’s up?”

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah… no… this… this can’t be… how could this happen…”

Auriel’s face began to harden as an unusual dread set in.

Noticing her alarming reaction, Franklin and the others were swept up in a deepening sense of unease.

*

“Crap…”

The enemy’s stronghold was now ablaze.

Thousands of foes had perished in a sudden assault, and most of the stored military supplies had been engulfed in flame.

Though a commander by the name of Pretzel had held her own remarkably well, significant damage had nonetheless been inflicted.

Conversely, their own troops had suffered little to no losses, making this a substantial success, albeit slightly disappointing.

However, that good fortune was reaching its end.

As she witnessed the enemy’s main forces returning, Napoleona felt it was about time to withdraw.

But then…

“! What… is that?”